The waning crescent surprisingly illuminated the ground and lit up the night sky as it gently rose to grace the stars with its presence. Beneath the probing beams of silver moonlight, a young woman lay silently on the ground in a thickly sheltered forest. Her eyes lined with pink stared towards the heavens and caught tiny glimpses of the evening sky through the places where the branches and leaves were fewer in number.
Sitting just as quietly next to her was a young man robed in cloths, their hues violet and black. He was hunched forward and had his eyelids closed over his cool midnight blue irises, his breathing was calm and deep as he tried to sleep in such an uncomfortable position. His golden staff leaned against his shoulder as a swordsman would have his blade if he were sitting on guard. The woman beside him turned her features to glimpse his face a moment, but she could only see a side profile of his mouth chin and nose.
Her long chestnut brown hair was spread out behind her; she had removed the cloth that usually held the tendrils together at their ends. For her, tonight would supply little sleep, she was a little uneasy being so near…and alone with the Houshi-sama, for reasons she had a difficult time explaining, even to her. Of course, she had perfect reason what with all the groping he had provided her with. Even Kirara was nowhere to be seen, InuYasha and the others needed the neko youkai a bit more, so the girl tossed and turned and finally inched her way slowly away from the monk sitting beside her.
Earlier that day, when the two had scouted this area out, they found a nice stream that trickled into a deep pond whose warm misty waters acted almost as a hot spring, if only the water was a bit warmer. Sango decided she needed to relax and take her mind off the situation and thought it safe to leave while Houshi-sama was asleep. She left her armor and such where she had been laying down and walked through the dark woods until the tinkling sounds of water grew louder.
Her eyes adjusted after some time and she could easily follow the hoary trail of the stream that slivers of moonlight lit up for her. Finally the trees made a clearing for the pond, the mist and steam swirling around it made the place look unnatural and ghost-like. The demon exterminator took no note of this though as she knelt down and ran her left hand over the glassy surface and watched it ripple beneath her fingertips. It was much warmer than when she and Miroku had tested it earlier. Thankful for this she started to remove her clothes, undoing the sash that held her robes together and pulling the fabrics away from her skin until they lay in a pile by her feet. Slowly, Sango stepped towards the pond, the soft soil felt like loose clay between her toes and she let her feet sink into the earth as she lowered her body into the waters.
She felt a tingling sensation once her body was submerged up to her shoulders, especially across her back where the scar of her brother's memory was. The girl reached her hand back and placed the tips of her fingers on the scar and traced it as best she could, pressing hard enough so the pricks weren't so bad, it felt as though her whole body had been numb and was just now waking up, was it the water doing this? But just as suddenly as the feeling had started, it disappeared leaving her to relax and bask in the warmth of the pond, mist, and steam swirling around her.
There was an aroma that she noticed now that hadn't been so evident before, it was something she hadn't really smelled before. She noticed ginger, but there was something else that she didn't quite recognize, today we would know it as vanilla, but then it was a foreign spice to the Japanese of the feudal days. The scents were so soothing to her senses that they made her a bit drowsy…
"Hello, is there anyone there?" a voice from Sango's left called. Startled, she immediately brushed off the drowsiness and answered.
"Who's there?" there was hostility in her voice, but she had no weapons to defend herself.
"Be at peace young maiden, I am just passing through, I noticed the hot spring and was about to take a dip myself when I sensed the presence of another. I am sorry if I have disturbed you," the voice apologized, and the girl noticed it to be the voice of a young man, but he wasn't Miroku.
"What's your name?" she asked curiously.
"I am Hiroyui Oyama of the Hiroyui clan, my friends call me Hiro, and you are?"
"My name is Sango," she responded, "Hey, Hiro, are you carrying ginger with you?"
"Yes, ginger and vanilla, their scents are soothing to me so I take them out at night when I find it difficult to sleep,"
"Please, step into the light so I can see you,"
"Are you certain, honestly, I am just passing through,"
"Well, we've had a long enough conversation that I'd like to see who I'm speaking with, don't worry, my body is under the water, you can't see anything, plus the steam is very thick,"
"As you wish, Sango," her heart skipped a beat, the way he said her name was so intoxicating, it was strange, she wanted to hear it again. She then heard rummaging in the brush to the left where the voice had its origins and as she gazed up, the figure arose, he was tall and when the pale moonlight struck his face she could tell he was handsome.
"You look like a warrior," she stated.
"A good observation," he smiled as he spotted the young girl looking up at him from the misty water. The man had on battle attire, his armor was strange though it looked more European than Asian, but the man before her was Japanese. The sword at his waist though was the most Asian thing on him, the katana's sheath was handmade and had some of the most intricate designs she had ever seen before.
"By your look, you must be a very high ranking officer in someone's army,"
"Why is it that such a beautiful girl as yourself would know so much about the wars?"
"We are in the warring times after all, is it bad that I am more involved?"
"You must be a princess then, of an emperor? What region do you hail from?"
"I am not a princess," she chuckled softly, "I'm a taijiya,"
"A demon exterminator, impressive, I know where you come from. You're just outside the Musashi domain, I heard that your village was attacked and left no survivors," his face grew a look of concern.
"You have good sources, we were set up in a trap, a demon named Naraku wanted the Shikon jewel shards from the village and destroyed us. He led all the exterminator's away from the village by hiring another demon for us to hunt down while he sent his army of smaller demons to attack the village. I am one of the last exterminator's left and I vowed my revenge so I am traveling with my friends who also have grudges against Naraku, when we find him, and catch him, we hope to beat him together,"
"I am sorry for your loss, it's not much, but I know of this Naraku you speak of, he is no demon, but a prince with very high authority, he is slowly gaining control over all of Japan, his army is very powerful, it's surprising that you haven't heard more of him, he's not so undercover. I heard news from my general that he was in Kyoto just days ago, you should probably start looking for him there,"
"Kyoto, really?" she was shocked and her eyes hardened on the stranger, could this be a trap itself? I should wake up my friend, he'll want to hear this.
"You are traveling with another?"
"Yes, and he'll want to know this information now, and he'll know better the questions he should ask you,"
"No, need Sango, I am here," the monk stepped forth from the brush behind her, he kept a calm yet stern façade and his eyes never left the stranger, "I am Miroku, and you are?"
"My name is Hiroyui Oyama, you may call me Hiro," he replied as friendly as he could.
"Hiroyui is fine, what's this I hear about Naraku?"
"He says that Naraku is in Kyoto, I don't know if we should trust him, what if this is a trap, Naraku was just in this area yesterday, how can he travel so quickly if he's taking on the guise of a human prince?"
"We will soon find out," Miroku reached in his robes and pulled out three Kama sutra's, rice papers with holy incantations on them, "Friend, if you will not struggle, then this does not have to end badly,"
"You ask me not to struggle when you make the first move to attack?" Hiro felt offended, especially with his very high rank in his army. His hand reached for his blade, but he did not draw.
"I will oblige for now because I refuse to kill a man in front of a woman, even if you are a taijiya Sango," he bowed and stood still, waiting for them to do whatever they had in mind.
"Sango, I'll leave my robe here for you so you may dry off and put your clothes back on," he started to remove the black outer layer of cloth.
"No need Miroku, I have towels with me, they would absorb more than your cloth and probably feel better against her body," Hiro started to reach behind him for his horse.
"Don't move or I will bind you in a spell," Miroku threatened.
"Please, if you don't believe me walk over here and get them yourself,"
"Miroku stop it, he won't move Hiro, but I will," and with that, Sango arose out of the misty waters, the water glistening on her skin in the moonlight, dripping off her frame slowly and sensually. Both men's eyes widened as they looked her up and down.
"Please Hiro, the towels?"
"O-of course!" he averted his eyes, ashamed at having looked at her for so long, "I'm sorry Sango, I should not have looked, I let my imagination get the better of me, here," he handed her two towels, one was larger than the other and that's the one she took, she noticed the emblem on it was from an emperor on the western coast of Japan, Hiro had traveled a long way, either through the mountains or around the whole coast of Japan. The towel was soft and warm and as he mentioned it felt wonderful against her skin, he must be a great man if he is awarded with so many great things from such powerful people.